“We’re ballplayers and you got that mentality that you know it’s not going to get me,” Visger said. “But he talked about it a lot too for a few years.”

Visger, who now receives brain injury treatment at the Center for Neuro Skills, says Hairston’s business success after football shows how difficult brain injuries can be to diagnose.

“You know, we have a saying in the brain injury world,” Visger said. “If you’ve seen one brain injury, you’ve seen one brain injury. Every single one is different.”

Hairston leaves behind a wife and young children, and friends around the world. All asking, “why?”

”This wasn’t their dad, their husband and brother and friend, that thought this out,” Visger said. “This was a freaking broken part of his brain.”

Jason Hairston was a success in life. His death is another painful reminder of the long-term impact of the bruising game of football.

The family has released a statement on the KUIU website asking that donations be made to support CTE-related research at the “Boston University Concussion Legacy Foundation” in lieu of sending flowers.